The Lady And The Tramp
by Kalta79
Summary: Elena is forced into a career change
1. Chapter 1

The two men walked along the deserted stretch of wasteland looking for anything they could sell for some gil when they saw what looked like a pile of rags. As they approached it, they saw it was a human body. One of the men went to see if there was anything valuable on the body when they realized it was still warm.

"I think this one's not dead yet." he told his partner.

The other man inspected the injuries and saw through the blood that it might be a reasonably pretty female.

"Let's take her to Doc. He pays good for useful bodies, probably the only money we'll make out here." The second man said.

The first man nodded and the second man carried her quite a while to a house, and they went around to the back door. The first man knocked on the door, and it was answered a few moments later by an older man. He noticed what the second man was carrying.

"Well well, come inside." He stepped aside and they entered. "What have you brought me this time?"

"We found her in the wastelands, Doc. Someone left her for dead." The first man explained.

"Put her on the gurney." Doc ordered.

Once the second man did that, Doc examined her and then injected her with something before turning to the men.

"Here's something for your troubles." Doc gave each of them a handful of gil. "Now leave so I can get to work."

Once the men left, Doc cleaned up and repaired the woman's wounds as best he could. Then he strapped her to the gurney and went to his phone, picking up the receiver and dialing a number.

"This is Doc, I want to speak to Mada…well hello. I've got something that might interest you. Blonde hair, brown eyes, good figure, not too young or too old. Very healthy, otherwise she'd be dead already. Okay I'll be expecting you in an about an hour."

Doc hung up the phone and then heard a noise. He looked over at the gurney and the woman was awake and staring at him.

"How are you feeling, my dear?" Doc asked.

"Who are you?" the woman asked warily.

"You can call me Doc." he replied.

"Alright. Then who am I?"


	2. Chapter 2

Reno walked into the brothel. He had never been to Madam Lucia's establishment, but he was getting bored with the other brothels, and this was a little off the beaten path so he thought he'd see if it was any good.

"Here's the girls we have available at the moment." The receptionist turned the monitor towards him after he paid.

Reno looked over the girls. One with black hair and green eyes seemed to stand out to him. "I think I'll take her." Reno pointed out his choice to the receptionist.

"Oh, that's Anna. She's kinda new, so let us know if you have any problems with her. And she's mute, so just tell her what you want, but don't expect her to answer back. Door 6." The receptionist buzzed him in.

* * *

Madam Lucia was looking over the records of the last month. The only person who seemed interested in Anna was that new client, Reno. Who'd have thought her clients would actually want to be talked back to? She was glad Anna was finally making some money for her, she was beginning to think she had made a bad investment. She just didn't like any client getting too attached to her 'acquisitions' in case someone came looking for them. She had Anna's hair and eye color changed, and it was easy to convince her not to talk, she just hoped the girl never regained her memory.

* * *

"Any luck on the search for Elena?" Tseng asked at the morning meeting.

Reno and Rude both had negative responses.

"We don't even know if she's still alive." Rude admitted reluctantly.

"She's a Turk, she's still alive." Tseng stated firmly.

"Well, I'm gonna check the Wastelands again. It's a popular dumping ground." Reno said.

After Tseng had left, Rude elbowed him.

"You know you're only going to that brothel again near the Wastelands." Rude said.

" _After_ I do another sweep, I plan to get my R &R. Nothing wrong with that." Reno countered.

* * *

Anna woke up, momentarily troubled by a dream that told her she had something she was supposed to be doing. She dismissed it and just figured it was because it would probably be a slow work day. She never had many clients, except that one who kept coming back. His voice sounded familiar to her, but she never looked at his face. She never looked at anyone's face, if she was in a position where she'd have to, she just closed her eyes. She enjoyed not having to talk, because she didn't have anything to talk about. She wasn't even sure she wanted to remember whatever she forgot, because things were simple here for her. And if someone missed her, they'd have found her by now.

* * *

Reno arrived at the brothel in the evening, having done two sweeps over the area just so he wouldn't have to listen to Rude saying he's neglecting the search for Elena.

"Oh, hello again Mr. Reno. The usual?" The receptionist asked.

"Yep, I'll want her for the whole night this time though." Reno replied.

"The whole night? That's going to cost substantially more."

"I know, here's some of it, I'll pay the rest when I leave." Reno threw some gil down on the counter, and the receptionist shrugged and buzzed him in.

* * *

A couple hours later, Anna lay in Reno's arms as she listened to him talk about everything he could think of. Reno had found he liked having someone who just listened to him. He was talking about the search for Elena when he noticed that Anna had fallen asleep. That sounded like a good idea to him, since they had some fun already, and they had the whole night ahead of them.

Anna woke up screaming from a nightmare where she felt herself in a lot of pain, being carried somewhere and then thrown in a heap. Reno woke up to her screaming.

"Anna, what's wrong?" Reno grabbed her to try and calm her down.

She finally saw his face and it triggered something in her. "Re…Re…Reno?" Anna managed to get the name out eventually, it had been so long since she had spoken.

Reno recognized the voice and was shocked. "Elena?"

Just then security came bursting in, seeing Anna scared and Reno having a strong hold on her. They tossed Reno and his clothes out, while he was yelling for Elena. Madam Lucia came out to the commotion and upon hearing some of what happened, she went into her office and activated the playback for the cameras in Anna's room. Then she picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"There's trouble, we're going to have to move Anna, maybe even the whole operation."

Reno went back to his helicopter and radioed in that he had found Elena but he was going to need backup.


	3. Chapter 3

Rude and Tseng arrived first, and while they were waiting for the rest of the backup, Tseng questioned Reno over his discovery of Elena.

"She, uh, has black hair and green eyes now, that's why I didn't recognize her at first. And she goes by the name Anna." Reno rubbed the back of his neck.

" _At first_? How long did it take you to recognize her?" Tseng demanded to know.

"Um, I've been coming here for about a month."

"It took you a _month_ to recognize Elena?!" Tseng was getting angrier.

"I've never had sex with her before, and she never spoke! Without her nagging me to shut up and behave myself, how was I supposed to know it was her?" Reno exclaimed in self-defense.

Just then, the rest of the backup arrived. Reno was grateful for the distraction, he didn't want to have to admit how much he enjoyed having sex with Elena. When they surrounded and entered the brothel, they were extremely disturbed to find it totally empty.

* * *

Anna woke up from a dream of that Reno man calling her Elena and warning her to be careful on her assignment, then him as one of her regular clients at the brothel, telling her about the search for Elena as he fondled her breasts.

Anna looked around in the darkness, she was bound and gagged in some kind of closet in one of some kind of vehicle that seemed to be traveling rather fast. She was very confused…except for that man she remembered to be called Reno, whose name recalled a feeling of annoyance, her life simply started when Doc gave her to Madam Lucia, then she had a couple weeks of 'training' with various combinations of men and women before she was allowed to work, with the strict understanding she was never to talk. But that Reno man had called her Elena before he was thrown out…her head started to hurt then, and the closet door was opened, causing Anna to squint and blink her eyes at the sudden brightness .

"So you're awake now." One of the girls from the brothel was there with a cup of water.

She took the gag out and let Anna drink from the cup. Anna recognized her as the girl who had joined her and that Reno man one time for a threesome.

"Pity you had to go and ruin everything. We had to leave because you couldn't keep your mouth shut. Though I liked it when you didn't." The girl caressed her cheek before replacing the gag and leaving, shutting and locking the door.

One of the security guards approached the girl. "Did she give you any trouble, Lorna?" he asked.

"She's bound and gagged, what could she do to me?" Lorna replied. "I wish we could just get rid of her."

"You heard what Madam Lucia said. She wants that girl to earn back all the money this relocation is costing her." the security guard said.


	4. Chapter 4

Tseng walked out of the empty building and stormed up to Reno, slamming him into the exterior wall of the brothel. "I'm giving you two hours to find her. I'm heading back to base to give a full report of what's happened." Tseng said before getting into his helicopter.

Reno readjusted his jacket and looked at Rude. "Come on, they can't have gone far." he said as he headed for his helicopter.

"Just remember, it's not my ass on the line." Rude said as he followed Reno.

***

Lorna brought Anna another cup of water, this time locking herself in the closet as well after the cup was empty. "I listened in on some of Madam Lucia's conversations. Seems whoever that Reno is, he's well-connected and she's afraid we won't be able to remain hidden from him for very long. They might kill you to avoid that. If I helped you escape, would you have him get me out as well?" she whispered in Anna's ear.

Anna nodded, then Lorna stiffened.

"He's coming back to check on us." Lorna hurriedly removed Anna's gag and started kissing her.

"Lorna, what do you think you're doing?" the security guard said as he opened the closet door.

"Trying to amuse myself since you won't play with me." Lorna replied as she got up and replaced Anna's gag, closing and locking the closet door. "How much longer til we get to a safe location?"

"Who knows?" the security guard answered.

"Where's Madam Lucia? I've got an idea."

***

Anna was getting more confused. Lorna said she'd help her if Anna got Reno to help her get out, but it didn't make any sense. Anna hadn't minded her life at the brothel, why did Lorna want to get out? There was a world out there, but for some reason it scared Anna, as much as being bound and gagged naked in a dark closet did, which was her own fault for breaking the rules and talking.

A little while later, Lorna came back and helped Anna up off the floor. "Come on, we've got to hurry. We're slowing down for this leg of the journey, so it's the best time." Lorna whispered.

Anna realized they must be on a train. Lorna opened an outside door and the scenery wasn't going by too fast. "Remember, you promised. Start heading that way." Lorna pointed before she shoved Anna out the door, then closed and locked it again as the security guard started walking towards her.

"Just remember what Madam Lucia said, if this doesn't stop the pursuit, _you'll_ be taking Anna's place." he said.

***

Reno noticed the time, his two hour deadline was fast approaching. The heat sensors so far hadn't shown any signs of human bodies.

"Hey, what's that?" Rude asked, pointing to the screen.

"Let's check it out." Reno activated the camera and zoomed in on the location Rude had indicated. "It's hard to tell, it might be human, we'll have to land and inspect it up close."

When they landed, Reno started running towards the location. He saw the black hair and ran faster, Rude right behind him.

"Elena!" Reno yelled as the figure tried to move. He reached her and took his jacket off, trying to cover her naked body up from the elements.

Reno took the gag off, and then pulled a knife out of his pocket and cut the ropes around her wrists and ankles. Rude took his jacket off as well to give her extra warmth.

"I think her leg's broken." Reno told Rude as he noticed the extensive bruising and swelling.

They used their jackets as a makeshift gurney to get Elena back to the helicopter, and Reno immediately radioed in that they had found her and were going to the WRO hospital. Elena tried to say something, but she was having trouble getting the words out.

"What's she trying to say?" Reno asked Rude.

"I'm not sure. It sounds like Help Lorna, but it might just be gibberish. You did say she never spoke at the brothel?"

"Yeah, they said she was mute. But she said my name the last time. Sounded like she just hadn't spoken in all that time."

"At least Reeve will make sure she gets the best care possible."

"Damn right he will." Reno said.

***

 **Epilogue**

As she left Lorna's apartment, Elena reflected back over the last couple of months. With therapy she had regained most of her memory as her broken leg healed, but some parts of her memory were still a blur. At her insistence, Reno had used 'discretionary' money allotted to the Turks to buy Lorna's freedom. Tseng had insisted Reno pay it back as he was able, still unhappy with Reno's not recognizing her right away. She blushed as she remembered his visits to her at the brothel. Elena took a deep breath and stepped outside, looking at all the snow and holiday decorations, and the people rushing everywhere. The air of holiday cheer reminded her of Lorna's parting advice.

"What are you waiting for? 'Tis the season…" Lorna had said before she closed the door to her apartment.

Elena was thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "What am I waiting for?"

***

Reno trudged his way through the snow to his apartment, annoyed by all the holiday cheer around him. He was basically broke due to having to pay for Lorna's freedom, so he couldn't afford his usual holiday happies, not that he was sure he wanted to visit any brothel again for a very long time.

He unlocked his door and entered his apartment, heading straight for the shower. After that, he dried his hair before heading to bed. He had just gotten when he felt someone slip in next to him. He turned in shock to see a woman with black hair and green eyes naked in his bed.

"El…" Reno started to say before she shushed him with a finger over his lips.

She pointed up and Reno saw the mistletoe hanging over his bed. "Anna misses you." she said as she kissed him.

***

As she lay contented in Reno's arms much later, while he was smiling in his sleep, she wondered if next time she should try a brunette wig.


End file.
